Cougars earn win over Cloud County, slip into first place tie #GoBarton

Relying on an eight point lead to the halftime break, the No. 21 ranked Barton Community College men's basketball team drudged out an 82-74 victory over Cloud County Community College Wednesday night at the Barton Gym to open up the 2018 portion of the schedule. The victory, aided by a loss by Hutchinson, moved the Cougars into a three-way tie atop the Jayhawk standings at 8-2 and 12-2 on the season while dropping Cloud County to the cellar at 2-8 and 4-9. Barton's next action will come Saturday in hosting Pratt Community College (3-7, 5-9) in a 7:30 p.m. tip at the Barton Gym.

Kawanise Wilkins lead all scorers on the night and four Cougars in double-digits scoring twenty-four points in part to 11-of-14 free throw shooting while just missing his sixth double-double in finishing with nine boards and rejecting a season high three shots. Keshon Montague added eighteen points and three assists with Marvin Cannon and Noah Webster each adding eleven points. Grabbing a team high ten rebounds coming off the bench, Elijah Ford scored seven being joined by Akeem White's spark off the bench for nine points.

JaVary Christmas' fifteen points led four T-birds in scoring with Solomon Finley close behind with fourteen. Tying Christmas for game high assist honors with four, Alvin Thompson scored thirteen while Obi Patrick's eleven points helped give Cloud County a nine point edge off the bench.

Other Game Notes:

• Barton's victory was the fifth straight and third in a row at the Barton Gym in the series
• Barton now leads the overall series 55-21 and 31-5 on their home floor
• The Cougars were 28-of-37 from the free throw line; the 28 made tosses is the third time Barton has made 28 or more free throws (33 vs Butler, 28 vs Colby). The 37 attempts were second most to the 53 attempts versus Butler
• From the field, Barton launched its second least field goal attempts (25) leading to a season low assist distribution (8) and a season low 4 three-pointers made for just 20% (4-of-20)
• Barton had six shots blocked, the second most against the Cougars (10 at Hutchinson, 6 vs Allen County)
• Defensively, the Cougars forced Cloud County into twenty-three turnovers, second most to the twenty-four of Butler